The Elementary Kingdoms

The Nature of the Elementary Beings, Their Activities, and Influence

Schmidt Number: S-1633

The Elementary Kingdoms

Rudolf Steiner Archive Document

Lectures Section

The following lecture was given by Rudolf Steiner at Munich,
on the 4th of December, 1907. This document is lecture 4 of 18
lectures in the lecture series entitled,
The Working of Natural Substance and Spiritual Essence in the
Visible World.
It was published in German as,
Natur- und Geistwesen — Ihr Wirken in Unserer Sichtbaren Welt.

A Lecture given by
Rudolf Steiner
Munich, December 4th, 1907
Bn/GA 98

The following lecture was given by Rudolf Steiner at Munich,
on the 4th of December, 1907. This document is lecture 4 of 18
lectures in the lecture series entitled,
The Working of Natural Substance and Spiritual Essence in the
Visible World.
It was published in German as,
Natur- und Geistwesen — Ihr Wirken in Unserer
Sichtbaren Welt.

This lecture was translated from shorthand reports,
unrevised by the lecturer, by an unknown translator.
It first appeared in English translation in the Anthroposophical
News Sheet, Volume 4 in 1936. This typescript version is
presented here with the kind permission of the Rudolf
Steiner Nachlassverwaltung, Dornach, Switzerland. From Bn/GA 98.

This e.Text edition is provided through the wonderful work of:Various e.Text Transcribers

Donated by the Los Angeles Steiner Library, this lecture has been made
available to everyone.

ANTHROPOSOPHIC
NEWS SHEETMarch 29, 1936, etc.

THE
ELEMENTARY KINGDOMS.

THE NATURE OF THE ELEMENTARY BEINGS,
THEIR ACTIVITIES, AND INFLUENCE.

S-1633

Lecture by RUDOLF STEINER,
at Munich, December 4, 1907

What has been
the generally designated as the Elementary Kingdoms,
since the earliest times, is not so easy to understand as we
are apt to imagine after a superficial examination. For these
Elementary Kingdoms belong to what lies behind the world
which we generally perceive — behind the world which
forces itself immediately upon our senses.

We can
understand such things in the best way, if we proceed from
what we can perceive through our senses — from the
kingdom of the sense-world, which are accessible to human
observation. Here, in the physical sense-world, four kingdoms
are spread out before our senses: the mineral kingdom, the
vegetable kingdom, the animal kingdom, and the kingdom of
man. This is common knowledge. Let us now try to form some
clear idea as to the precise nature of these four kingdoms;
for this is by no means clear to the average person. And for
this same reason, it is also not so easy to gain an insight
into the first, second and third elementary kingdoms. It is
precisely when we speak of such difficult matters, that we
must take great care, from the very outset, to realize that
no true goal can be reached, if we believe that a concept
which we have, as it were, driven like a stake into the
ground, can then be left rooted in this place. This may still
be possible within the physical sense-world, for here, things
stand one beside another; there is a division between them,
just as this book, this piece of chalk, a rose, etc., are
distinct and separate from one another. It is possible, in
this case, to apply a thought to a single object, for when we
have named something, we can be sure that we have before us
something distinct and limited. If, however, we send to the
astral plane, that world which is immediately beyond our own,
and permeates it, as the one nearest to it, we find that this
no longer holds true, for, in the astral world, there is
eternal movement. If you observe the astral body of man,
which floats around him as his aura and is the expression of
his passions, etc., you will see that this astral body of man
is in a continual movement — it is an ebb and flow, a
rise and fall of colors and forms, which change at every
moment, for new colors shine forth and others disappear, at
every moment. This is what we find in the case of man. But
there are other Beings which whirl about on the astral plane.
Their astral bodies do not form part of the physical body,
although — at the same time — they are
nonetheless changeable, for at every moment they have a
different shape, color, or luminous force. Everything on the
astral plane is the continual manifestation of the inner
nature of these Beings. We would, indeed, find ourselves in a
difficult position if we were to apply to the astral plane
the rigid, unchangeable thoughts of the physical world. We
must learn instead to adapt ourselves to the mobility of
these shapes — we must acquire mobile thoughts. We
should be able to use a concept, once in this way, and once
in that.

This is true
of the higher worlds to a still greater degree. If we
consider the world from a higher standpoint, we find that
everything on the physical plane is an expression of forces
emanating from these higher worlds. In everything we see
about us, such forces and beings lie concealed. It is
precisely this fact which explains the great variety among
the beings of the physical world. Observe, for instance, the
mineral kingdom. All apparently lifeless beings, all
minerals, belong to this kingdom. You are told, to begin
with, that these minerals upon the earth have no etheric body
of their own, no astral body and no Ego. But this is true
only within the physical world. We must know this, in order
to reach a clear conception of what actually takes place upon
the physical plane. But let us now suppose that someone were
to say: “The mineral is something which has nothing but
a physical body.” This statement is exactly as false,
as on the other hand — it would be true, were someone
to say: “The mineral kingdom is something which has,
upon the physical plane, only a physical body.” For, in
the light of a genuine spiritual method of observation, we
find that here, upon the physical plane, the mineral has a
physical body, but nothing more. If we wish to find its
etheric body, we must ascend to the astral plane: there, its
etheric body is to be found. The moment that a human being
becomes astrally clairvoyant, he is able to see the etheric
body of the mineral — there, on the astral plane
— and here, on the physical plane, he sees merely its
physical body. If we extend our observations still further,
we find that the mineral has also an astral body. This body
cannot be found, however, upon the astral plane, but must be
sought in the lower regions of Devachan. Only in the higher
Mental plane, is the Arupa-Mental plane, do we find the Ego
of the mineral — and it is from here, that the mineral
is directed by its Ego. If you wish to form a rough picture
of this, you must say to yourselves: I will try to imagine a
human being, whose clairvoyance reaches as far as the higher
Devachan. To such a clairvoyance, who is able to see into
Arupa, the minerals will appear like the fingernails of the
human being — nails of Beings whose Ego dwells in
higher Devachan. It is not possible to think of the
fingernails without the human being; the same thing must be
applied also to the minerals.

Let us
suppose that we are observing a rock-crystal here upon the
earth. If we now look away for a moment, our clairvoyant gaze
discovers the etheric body, which gives life to the physical
body, there, in the astral world. Yet it would not be
possible to perceive there, that any injury caused to the
mineral, also causes it pain. The joy and gladness, pain and
suffering of minerals can only be found upon the Devachanic
plane — but entirely differently from the way in which
we usually imagine this. A mineral's sensation of pain is not
like that of an animal; we must not think that a mineral
feels pain when we hammer it and break it into pieces. When
workmen in a quarry break stone, this actually gives rise to
a feeling of pleasure upon the Devachanic plane — it is
a true delight for the minerals. Thus, in their case, we find
the very opposite of what takes place in the kingdom of man
and in the animal kingdom. On the Devachanic plane, it is not
merely one mineral which belongs, as it were, to a mineral
personality, but rather a whole system of minerals —
just as, imaginatively speaking your fingernails do not each
possessed a separate soul. If someone were to imagine that
everything of an astral nature must be found upon the astral
plane, he would be under a delusion. It seems, of course,
natural to look for the astral element upon the astral plane
— nevertheless, the inner nature of a Being must be
distinguished from the environment in which it lives. Just as
your Ego has no physical nature, and lives nevertheless upon
the physical plane, so the astral body of the mineral does
not live on the astral plane but in lower Devachan. We must
not have delayed our thoughts according to a system, but must
rather work our way through, with the aid of a more precise
analysis and understanding of things.

Let us now
observe the plant, just as we see it before us. Here, on the
physical plane, it has its physical body and its etheric
body. It has these two bodies on the physical plane —
but where are we to look for the astral body of the plant? We
shall find it in the astral world — and the Ego, in the
lower Devachan. Let us now go a step further, to the animal.
The animal has, in the physical sense-world, a physical body,
an etheric body, and an astral body — but it's Ego is
on the astral plane. That is to say: just as, here on the
earth, defined in the human being as an isolated person, as a
single individuality, so you will find the Egos of the
animals, as complete, self-contained personalities, upon the
astral plane. But we must think of this in the following way:
All groups of animals which have a similar form, have also a
common Ego. Man, therefore, distinguishes himself from the
animals, owing to the fact that every human being has an
individual Ego. On the astral plane, we find for instance,
that the Ego of the lions, the Ego of the Tigers, etc. There,
they are single, self-contained Beings; the single animal
group-souls inhabit the physical sense-world. But in the case
of the human being, he must recognize the fact that the
physical body, etheric body, astral body and the Ego have all
descended as far as the physical plane. This is true,
however, only when the human being is awake — when he
is asleep it is otherwise. The physical and etheric bodies
are then in the physical world, whereas the astral body and
the Ego are on the astral plane. Thus, during sleep, the
fourfold human being is separated into parts, and is to be
found partly on the physical plane and partly on the one
directly above this — the astral plane. On the physical
plane, the human being is then of the same worth as a plant.

Now we have
already learned to know, in previous lectures, the nearest
ways in which the expressions “astral”, etc. must
be used. But we shall attain to a real penetration and
insight into these things, only if we realize clearly that we
cannot push them about like the men on a chessboard. If we
study the human being, we must observe him quite precisely,
in the following way: We find in him the physical body, the
etheric body, the astral body, and the Ego. It has often been
emphasized here, how very important it is to form a clear
conception concerning the relation of these four members. It
is very easy to imagine that the physical body is the most
imperfect and the lowest of these. From a certain aspects,
however, it is the most perfect of all — for it has
passed through four successive stages of evolution —
upon ancient Saturn, Sun, Moon, and upon the Earth. The
etheric body has reached its third stage of perfection, for
only upon the Sun was added to the physical body. In the
future, it will indeed rise to a higher stage —
although at present, it is not yet as perfect as the physical
body. The astral body was added to the other two bodies upon
the Moon, hence it has reached only the second stage of
perfection. The Ego is the baby among the four members of
man: for it was added only upon the Earth, and is thus only
at the beginning of its evolution; it works continually in a
corruptive way upon the other bodies. Anyone who studies,
from an anatomical point of view, the wonderful organization
of the physical body, must be filled with wonder by the
perfection of the heart and of the brain. How imperfect, on
the other hand are the impulses and passions of the Ego! The
Ego craves for wine, beer, etc., whichever destructive
influence throughout life — nevertheless, the physical
body with stands these attacks for decades! Let us now try to
make clear to ourselves how the Ego was inserted, as it were,
within the physical body — how it first arose.

To begin
with, there was the ancient Saturn-evolution. This was the
first stage of evolution for the precursor of our present
physical body. At that time man's physical body had the
cosmic value of a mineral. If you look at a mineral today,
you will see in it a retarded stage of existence; it has
remained behind at the same stage which the physical body had
reached upon Saturn. But you must not think from this that
the physical body had then the appearance of a mineral of
today. — this would be quite wrong. The present
minerals are the youngest forms in evolution. Upon Saturn,
the human body was not so dense; this density of the physical
body of man was very slight indeed.

Let us now
consider the relation between the various stages of matter.
The first is what we call Earth — that is,
everything which today may be called a solid body iron,
copper, tin, etc. Everything solid is Earth.
Secondly, everything liquid is Water for instance,
quicksilver. Even iron, in a liquefied state would be
Water. From the third-place, if you convert water
into steam it becomes Air. Occultism, here goes
still further, for it shows that the air may become still
more rarefied — may become thinner still. In this case,
we must transcend what is physical, in the modern sense
— and here the cultist speaks of Warmth-Ether,
or Fire. For the occultist, Fire is something
distinct within itself, just like Earth, Water, and Air
— whereas modern science merely looks upon the fire, or
heat, as a state, work condition of matter.

Upon Saturn,
heat was the substance of man's physical body. On the Sun,
the physical body of man was condensed to air; at the same
time, an etheric, or life-body, entered into it, transforming
this physical body. We now have a physical body, with an
etheric body consisting of one member, and the physical body
of two members. In the case of the physical body upon this
Sun, we must distinguish a more perfect than the less perfect
part — that is to say, one part was not as yet
permeated by the etheric body. When picturing to ourselves to
physical body upon the Sun, they must realize that the inner
part of this physical body has received nothing from the
etheric body; it has still the same value as the physical
body had upon Saturn. Thus, we have one part which has
already attained to the stage of a plant, and this part is at
the same time permeated by another part, which is still upon
the stage of a mineral: nevertheless, these two parts
completely permeate one another.

Let us now
consider the physical body upon the Moon. Here, it is already
condensed to water, and the astral body is incorporated
within the etheric and physical bodies. Thus, we must now
distinguish three different parts: One part is permeated by
the etheric and astral bodies; another part is permeated only
by the etheric body; and a third part has remained at the
mineral stage.

And now, let
us consider the physical body upon the Earth. Here, the Ego
is added. On the Earth, four members are interwoven. One part
of the physical body is permeated by the etheric body, astral
body and the Ego; a second part, by the etheric body and
astral body; a third part, by the etheric body only; and a
fourth part remains at the mineral stage. It has the same
value as has a mineral, and is still on the stage of the
Saturn. These four parts can be clearly distinguished in the
physical body. The first part, which contains all four
members, consists of the red blood corpuscles. Wherever we
find red blood, these four members permit one another.

The nerves on
the second part, or member. Where nerves are found, there the
physical, etheric and astral bodies permeate one another.
Where clans are to be found, the physical and etheric bodies
interpenetrate. All the instruments of the senses, all organs
which have the character of a physical apparatus, have
reached merely the stage of the mineral. They follow exactly
the same laws as do the minerals. The eye and the ear, for
instance, belong to these mineral parts; also in the brain,
we find such mineral parts. Thus you can see for yourselves
how easily one may be tempted at times to become a
materialist — because of something mineral does
actually permeate the whole body. If a materialist declares
that the brain is mineral, he is in part right — that
is, if he considers merely one aspect of the brain.
Particularly in certain parts of the frontal brain —
although these are, indeed, permeated by others —
mineral forces alone are active. And were we to study the
bones and muscles, it would become still more competition.
When the human Ego entered into man, it began to work upon
the sentient soul, the understanding soul, and the
consciousness soul; and at the same time, it formed the bones
and muscles. If we wish to observe these things exactly, we
need years of study, only to be able to keep them distinct
and separate. We must trace one thing after the other, with
patience.

If we now
have before us a sleeping human being, his physical body and
etheric body lie upon the bed. But this physical body is very
complicated. When the human being is awake, the astral body
and the Ego work within his blood. But what happens when the
physical body lies on the bed, in the human being is asleep?
The functions of the etheric body are indeed still carried on
— yet there can be no blood, unless an astral body and
an Ego are active within it. Hence, every night, the blood
would be doomed to death, since it is dependent upon the ego
and the astral body. But these as we know, leave the body
— leave it mercilessly. Also the whole nervous system
is mercilessly abandoned, for the nervous system is dependent
upon the astral body. Thus, we have before us the strange
fact that in reality, the blood and the nervous system would
have to die every night — they would fall a prey to
death, if they would be obliged to depend entirely upon the
human being. Other Beings must come to their aid; other
Beings must take over the work of man. From other worlds,
other Beings must pour their activity into man, in order to
preserve what he so treacherously abandons. We shall not try
to explain the nature of these Beings who become active when
man is asleep, and to make it possible for him to preserve
his blood intact.

We can form
an idea of these Beings, if we ask ourselves: where does the
human Ego really live, when it lives here, upon the physical
plane? In which one of the three kingdoms does it live? And
we must ask ourselves further: how much can we really know,
without clairvoyant perception? — Without clairvoyance,
we can, in reality, gain knowledge only of the mineral
kingdom. This is the peculiar characteristic of the human
being — that he cannot even grasp the plant completely,
as long as he is not astrally clairvoyant. Materialists
declare that plants are merely a conglomerate of mineral
processes — just because they can see only the plant's
mineral nature. When the human beings will have progressed,
in their work upon themselves, as far as the first stage of
clairvoyance, the life of the plants and the laws of life
will then appear to them just as clearly as do now the laws
of the mineral world.

If you wish
to construct a machine, or to build a house, you must do this
in accordance with the laws of the mineral world. Initiates
constructive according to these laws of the mineral world;
but you cannot construct a plant in this way. If you wish to
have a plant, you must leave this work to those Beings which
form the foundations of Nature. In the future, it will be
possible to produce plants in the laboratory, but only when
human beings will regard this as a sacrament, as a holy rite.
Only when man has become so earnest and purified, that he
looks upon the laboratory-table as an altar, will he be
permitted to produce living substance. Until this time has
arrived, however, not even the slightest detail concerning
the way in which living beings are constituted, will be
revealed to him. In other words: The Ego lives, as a
cognitive being, in the mineral kingdom, but it will ascend,
in the future, to the vegetable kingdom, and it will learn to
know this kingdom, just as today, it knows the mineral
kingdom. Still later, it will learn to grasp also the laws of
the animal kingdom; and finally, those of the human kingdom.
All human beings will learn to know and to grasp the inner
nature of plants, animals, and of man — these are
prospects for the future. Whatever we really understand, we
can also produce — for instance, a clock. But the human
being of our day will never be able to produce anything
belonging to the sphere of living Nature, without the help of
the Beings that lie behind nature, as long as such a work has
not become for him a sacramental rite. Only then will he be
able to ascend from the mineral kingdom to the vegetable
kingdom. The human being is already a human being, at the
present time; but his knowledge is restricted to the mineral
kingdom. The Ego of man lives within a human form, but when
this human Ego looks out into the world, its knowledge is
limited to the mineral kingdom. The Ego thus possesses only
the capacity to vitalize the blood in a mineral fashion
— it is unable to do more. Although the Ego lives
within the blood, during the day — dwelling within it
and vitalizing it — nevertheless it does this merely in
a mineral way.

How does it
do this? If you look out into the world, your cognitive
forces will reveal to you the laws of the mineral kingdom.
Try to observe for yourself the peculiar quality of this
human activity. You look out into the world through your
senses; you grasp the mineral laws, and during your waking
hours, you impress these laws upon your blood — you
force them into the entire substance of your blood, thus
vitalizing it in a mineral way. This is the peculiar process
each takes place during the act of cognition. Now imagine to
yourselves the human being, in accordance with the following
diagram (it cannot be produced here) ... the laws of the
mineral world streaming into him from all sides. They do not,
however, remain merely within his sense-organs; but while the
human being is awake, they stream together with the blood,
throughout the whole human body.

Now, what
does the plant-world do? You will understand what takes place
in the case of a plant, if you bear in mind the following
fact: You have often been told that the Ego works upon the
man's other bodies and transforms the astral body into the
Spirit-Self. In the same degree that this takes place, do the
laws of the vegetable kingdom stream into the human nervous
system. When the human being has reached the next stage of
clairvoyance, the laws of the animal kingdom will permeate
his glandular system, and finally, when he is able to work
upon the transformation of his physical body, the laws of the
human kingdom itself will flow into the human body. All this
should be thought of as applying to the waking state and to
the various stages of a higher clairvoyant consciousness.
Thus we can say that the human being has reached, at the
present time, a stage where the Ego permits the laws of the
mineral kingdom to stream into the blood. But it is able to
do this only during the waking state — for, the mineral
laws can enter the blood only while man is awake. While he is
asleep however, the blood must also be cared for. And because
this blood has been worked upon, throughout four successive
stages of evolution, three other powers must now step in with
their activity. The first of these is a power which is the
most closely related to the way in which the Ego has worked
upon the blood — but it is a power which has not
descended as far as the physical plane. The blood would be
given over to death, did not another Ego work upon it, while
the human being is asleep ... another Ego which has
remained upon the astral plane, and now intervenes by taking
over the work upon the blood. If we observe the human blood,
this “peculiar fluid”, we find that while the
human being is awake, the Ego of man is active within it,
here on the physical plane. During the night however, the
blood is worked upon by an Ego which dwells upon the astral
plane. For there are such Egos.

Now I have
referred, only recently, to Egos living upon the astral plane
— namely, to the group-souls of the animals. But in
this case we are dealing with another species of Egos,
dwelling upon the astral plane, which work upon the human
being and vitalize his blood, when the Ego of man has
abandoned it. By what means do they accomplish this? And what
is it that they bring into the blood? They bring into it that
which, ever since the time of Saturn, must always be present
in the human body — namely fire, heat. These are
spirits which have never descended as far as the physical
plane — spiritual Beings that live on the astral plane
and have a body of fire. In the mineral kingdom, everything
appears to us endowed with a certain degree of heat. Heat is
met with as a quality of solid, liquid, and gaseous bodies.
But now, try for a moment to think of heat, of warmth, quite
independently, quite by itself ... it does not exist as
such upon the physical plane. But upon the astral plane, you
would meet with such warmth, or heat, streaming there and
thither — heat as an independent being — and
within it, you would discover Beings embodied, such as we
were ourselves upon ancient Saturn. These Beings enter into
the blood during the night, and vitalize it with their
warmth. But something else must also take place — for
the astral body also abandoned the blood, and this body too,
is indispensable to it. Thus it is not sufficient if these
Ego-beings alone approach man during the night and work upon
him with their warmth-bodies — but other beings as well
are needed, which work upon the blood in the same way as does
the astral body. These Beings have their Ego upon the
Devachanic plane, and this Ego possesses a still higher body,
which is not even condensed as far as heat. The Ego which I
described first, did not descend even as far as the astral
plane — for it has remained in Devachan. It permeates
the blood and carries on within it, an activity which
corresponds to that of the astral body during the day.

Thus you may
see how we are cared for and protected during the night by
higher Beings which do not live in the mineral kingdom. The
human Ego has descended as far as the mineral kingdom, and
will later ascend to the vegetable kingdom, etc. These other
Egos have remained behind the human kingdom during the
successive stages of evolution; they form the hidden
kingdoms, the Elementary Kingdoms, which lie behind
our physical world, and which work down into it. The first
Being which works in our blood during the night, as a body of
heat — just as we have a physical body; it permeates
the blood which heat — and at the same time, lives upon
the astral plane with its body at heat. Through this
warmth-body, it belongs to the third Elementary
Kingdom. These Beings, belonging to the third
Elementary Kingdom, are the companions of the Group-Egos of
the animals — they belong to the same region. And
what are the capacities of these Egos? They need not have the
same capacities as a human Ego, which has descended as far as
the physical sense-world; but they are able nevertheless, to
act as a substitute for the human Ego, from the astral plane.
These Egos work down from the astral plane, in the same way
that the animal Group-Egos work down upon the animals; Souls
of the animals. In other words, they fill man's astral body
with impulses, desires, and passions. If we have before us an
astral body — what lives within this astral body? In
addition to the Ego, Beings live within it whose Ego dwells
upon the astral plane. These Beings permeates the astral body
just as maggots live in cheese. This is the third
Elementary Kingdom: it is the kingdom which forms
impulses and passions of an animal nature.

But behind
this kingdom lies another, namely the second Elementary
Kingdom. This kingdom is active within a purer element,
for it moulds and forms the shapes of the plants. But it's
activity extends also to the human being — to his many
elements which have a plant-like character — nails,
hair, etc. These are not permeated by the astral body, but
merely by the etheric body; for this reason they feel no
pain. The hair and nails are products from which the astral
body has already withdrawn — it is possible to cut
them, without causing pain. At an earlier time however, the
astral body was also within these. Many things in the human
being are of a plant-like nature, and within all these
plants-like elements, the Beings of the second Elementary
Kingdom are active. Hence, that which builds up the body
of a plant consists of the forces belonging to the second
Elementary Kingdom. Within the plant are active both the
Plant-Ego,, which permeates the etheric and astral bodies and
these Beings of the second Elementary Kingdom. Whereas the
Ego of the plants works upon the plant from within, these
other Beings work upon it from without — forming it,
making it grow and blossom. The whole plant is permeated by
an etheric body. But it does not possess an astral body of
its own; instead the entire astral body of the Earth forms
the common astral body of the plants. The Ego of the
plants is to be found at the center of the earth. This is
true for all plants. For this reason, if you pull up a plant
by the roots you cause pain to the earth; but, if you pick a
flower, the earth will have a feeling of well-being, as a cow
has a feeling of well-being when her calf sucks her milk. It
is also a wonderful experience when the corn is moved in the
autumn, to see how great waves of well-being streamed over the
earth! The Beings which work upon the plants, from out of the
second Elementary Kingdom, and help it to take form, fly
toward the plant from all sides, like butterflies. The
renewal and repetition of the leaves, blossoms, etc., is
their work. This is what acts upon the plants from out of the
second Elementary Kingdom.

In like
manner, there is a first Elementary Kingdom, which
gives the minerals their form. The animals received their
shape, or form — a form determined by instincts and
desires — from the Beings belonging to the third
Elementary Kingdom. The leaves, etc., of the plants are
formed by the second Elementary Kingdom; this work consists
chiefly of repetitions. But performing, shaping forces of the
minerals, which workout of the formless element, are to be
found in higher Devachan, in Arupa-Devachan. These three
Elementary Kingdoms permeate one another, flow into one
another. One who imagines everything distinct and separate,
will never attain to a living understanding. In the vegetable
kingdom, the vegetable and mineral kingdoms permeate one
another. In the animal kingdom, the animal, vegetable and
mineral kingdoms interpenetrate. And in a human being, the
Ego is added to these. For, with the incomes of the Ego, the
human kingdom first arose upon the earth. It is the blood
which first makes man a human being; all the kingdoms are
contained within it. But the Ego can for the present,
penetrate with its cognitive forces only into the mineral
kingdom; it must leave the other kingdoms to the Beings of
the Elementary Kingdoms. The mineral kingdom contains,
besides this mineral kingdom itself, also the first
Elementary Kingdom; for this reason, it takes on a clearly
defined shape. The plant owes its form entirely to the second
Elementary Kingdom — for, without it, it would be
spherical. And the animal is endowed with instincts, etc.,
owing to the added activity of the third Elementary Kingdom.
Our world consists of interpenetrating regions; only if we
are able to make our thoughts mobile and fluent, shall we
gradually be able to understand such things.

If we wish to
form a concept of how the third Elementary Kingdom is
connected with the animal kingdom, the following example may
be helpful. You all know the migrations of the birds! The
birds take quite definite courses in their migrations; from
the northeast to southwest and from southwest to northeast.
But who directs these migrations? It is the Group-Soul of the
birds! In these migrations instinct comes to expression.
Essentially speaking, they are wedding-flights — for
the birds take flight in order to breed in better climates.
They are directed by the Souls of the Species, or Group-Soul,
of the animal kingdom.

On the other
hand, the animals are given their form, which enables him to
have certain instincts, and which is the bearer of these
instincts, by the Beings of the third Elementary Kingdom
— the companions of the animal Group-Souls. If we wish
to express this in a somewhat trivial manner, we may say:
Those Egos which constitute the animal Group-Souls form
one company, upon the astral plane; and the Beings
of the third Elementary Kingdom form another.
Nevertheless, they must work together in harmony. The one
supplies the instincts, the other the bodies, forming and
moulding them, so that the instincts may live within them.

The physical
forms of the plants originate from the Beings of the second
Elementary Kingdom. And in everything which molds and works
upon the minerals, the Beings of the first Elementary Kingdom
are to be found. The forces of the minerals, active as
attraction and repulsion, the atomistic forces, proceed from
the groups of minerals. But it is the Beings of the first
Elementary Kingdom who form the minerals.

Thus we
obtain a perspective which reveals to us where we may seek
for the activities of the various kingdoms within our world.
We must however, observe these things very accurately. We may
say to a plant: You are living being; this you owe to the
Plant-Ego. Your form, your shape however, is given to you by
the Beings of the second Elementary Kingdom.

Thus we may
sum up the four kingdoms as follows. The kingdom of man is
the kingdom within which and Ego can work formatively into
the human world; the vegetable kingdom is the one within
which hands Ego can work formatively in the plant world; the
mineral kingdom, the one in which an Ego can build for itself
forms in the mineral kingdom. The third Elementary Kingdom
cares for the blood during the night, and forms at the same
time, the instinctive life of the animals; the second
Elementary Kingdom forms the plants; and the first Elementary
Kingdom forms the minerals — for instance the crystals.
From all this we can see that patience is necessary for the
penetration into Spiritual Science. The world is constructed
in a complicated way, and the highest truths are not the
simplest. It is an utterly senseless way of speaking to
declare that the highest things can be grasped with the
simplest concepts. This is due only to laziness. It is
admitted of course, that it is not possible to understand a
clock at once, but the world, people believe, can be
understood without any further trouble. If we wish to grasp
the Divine, infinite patience is needed for the Divine
contains everything. In order to understand the world, people
wish to apply the simplest concepts, but this is simply
laziness ... no matter how reverently the soul may say it.
The Divine element is profound, and an eternity is needed in
order to grasp it. Man dares, indeed, the spark of the
Godhead within him, but the nature and Being of this Godhead
can be understood only by collecting a knowledge of the facts
of the world.

The great
patience and renunciation which knowledge entails, is what we
must learn first of all. We ourselves must gradually mature
in order to form judgments. The world is infinite at every
point. And we must be modest enough to say that everything
is, in a certain sense, only a half-truth. We must transform
everything into moral impulses, even the classification of
man's being into ten or twelve members. Spiritual Science
gives us pictures which we should unite with our feelings.
For, Spiritual Science is only of value when we draw from it
not merely knowledge, but are filled with the noblest
feelings for the profundity of the world around us. All the
greater then, will be the longing for the Divine. The very
fact that the Divine appears to man so far removed, in
distinct height, should incite him so much the more to become
strong, in order that he may again find his way thither.